Rather than go through a slog of every single freeway corridor I'll just list what I see as the top 5 in California:

- I-5 simply due to being the biggest and traveling through 3 major metro areas in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento.- I-80 due to the Bay Bridge carrying traffic over San Francisco Bay and it being one of the favored commerce corridors over the Sierras.- CA 99 between I-5 and US 50 carries a monster amount of truck traffic is essentially the mainline route through the cities of San Joaquin Valley. - I-405 due it having the highest traffic count in the country.- Tie between I-280 and US 101 from San Jose to San Francisco due to both being the main corridors between those cities.

Some other freeways pretty high up there would be I-15, I-10, I-210, I-40, I-880, I-580 and I-8.

Note: I am not counting insignificant sections (CT 17 freeways in Middletown and Glastonbury, what's left of CT 34, CT 78, CT 184 in Groton, CT 187/189, CT 349, the SR 571 connector, Whitehead Highway, the SR 695 Turnpike stub, the Milford Connector, or any SR that is assigned to an exit ramp), nor am I counting the piece of I-684 that ducks into CT.

Note: I am not counting insignificant sections (CT 17 freeways in Middletown and Glastonbury, what's left of CT 34, CT 78, CT 184 in Groton, CT 187/189, CT 349, the SR 571 connector, Whitehead Highway, the SR 695 Turnpike stub, the Milford Connector, or any SR that is assigned to an exit ramp), nor am I counting the piece of I-684 that ducks into CT.

CT 11?

Logged

I'm a young roadgeek who has been interested in roads since I was a little kid.

If we're talking intrastate travel, then here's how I'd rank Kentucky. Note that I am omitting I-69 and instead using the traditional routings of the parkways that were taken over by I-69 mileage. I'm also omitting 3dis and beltways that primarily serve local traffic (US 60 in Owensboro and KY 4 in Lexington).

I-64I-75I-65I-71Western Kentucky ParkwayMountain ParkwayBluegrass ParkwayI-24Pennyrile ParkwayHal Rogers (Daniel Boone) ParkwayCumberland ParkwayAudubon ParkwayGreen River Parkway (the other parkways have dual names, not sure why they can't return the original Green River name to the Natcher Parkway).Purchase Parkway

West Virginia (again, omitting the lone 3di, and local freeways like US 250/WV 2 south of Wheeling, and US 22, and concentrating on intrastate travel.)

I-64I-77I-79I-68I-81I-70

Obviously, if you want to consider interstate travel, then I-65 and I-75 move up in Kentucky, and I-24 moves ahead of the parkways; and in West Virginia, I-81 probably moves up to at least second or third place, and I-70 would move ahead of I-68.

Add 3dis to the mix for interstate travel, and I-470 in West Virginia would probably end up in fourth place. In Kentucky, I'm not sure how much interstate traffic the 3dis get.

Okay, since I have lived in all parts of the Hoosier State and feel I am not biased toward or against any particular region of it, here is MY take on the hierarchy for Indiana freeways (all Interstates, and those longer than 4 miles along U.S. Highways & Indiana State Roads). Included are my explanations as to why I rank them the way I do (please feel free to disagree), and to which segments the rankings apply (for routes that are only freeways in segments or overlap other shielded routes).

#1: Interstate 465 (Indianapolis beltway) : Without this route, almost the entire Interstate system in Indiana collapses. Carries part of I-74 (and soon, part of I-69 as well), and provides redundancy for the "inner belt" sections of I-65 & I-70. Also carries all "through" U.S. Highways and State Roads. Has 10 (soon to be 11) system interchanges and several other significant ones.

#6: Indiana Toll Road (I-90 for entire length & I-80 for most) : Major transcontinental Interstates. Connects South Bend/Elkhart with Chicago to the west & Toledo and Cleveland to the east.

#7: Interstate 94 (Tri-State Highway between IN Toll Road & MI state line) : Part of major corridor connecting Chicago and Detroit; Michigan's gateway to the Chicagoland region.

#8: Saint Joseph Valley Parkway (US 31, US 20/31, and US 20) : Bypass route around South Bend and Elkhart. Portion of this freeway may be included in a future Interstate 67 between Indianapolis and Grand Rapids.

#9: Interstate 74 (entire length) : Significant Interstate corridor connecting the Mid-State cities of Illinois & the Quad-Cities of IL & IA to the west and Cincinnati to the east.

#10: U.S. Highway 31 (Hamilton County freeway section) : This 17-mile freeway serves rapidly growing Indy suburbs of Carmel & Westfield, and is along the path of a future I-67 corridor to South Bend and beyond.

#11: Interstate 64 (entire length) : Less relevant to most Hoosiers than other 2di-Interstates due to its rural, southern Indiana route, it nonetheless connects Louisville and Saint Louis, and provides (for now at least) a toll-free Interstate freeway crossing of the Ohio River in the Louisville area.

#12: Interstate 469 : Fort Wayne's semi-beltway provides important non-urban connections for several U.S. Highways. Construction of a system interchange with the U.S. 24 "Fort to Port" freeway will soon be underway.

#13: Interstate 265 / State Road 265 (future I-265) : Indiana portions of Louisville's outer beltway is at long last complete with the (tolled) Lewis & Clark Bridge over the Ohio River.

#14: U.S. Highway 31 (Plymouth to South Bend section) : Potentially part of a future Interstate 67, this freeway connects U.S. 30 at Plymouth to the South Bend area.

#15: Interstate 865 : The former "dogleg" of I-465, this important link (or glorified ramp, as some insist) provides the directional connections missing from the north junction of I-65 and I-465.

#16: U.S. Highway 31 (Kokomo Bypass section) : Provides the long-desired full-freeway bypass of Kokomo (previously called "Stoplight City") for U.S. 31, and a portion of U.S. 35. Potentially part of a future I-67 between Indianapolis, South Bend, and western MI).

#17: U.S. Highway 24 (Fort to Port freeway) : This freeway bypassed a crooked, dangerous, and congested routing of U.S. Highway 24 that hugged the Maumee River between New Haven and the Ohio state line northeast of Woodburn.

#18: Keystone Parkway (née Keystone Avenue - former IN State Road 431 in Hamilton Co.) : this sub-Interstate grade freeway runs through the densely populated Indianapolis suburb of Carmel (roundabout capital of the world). It's origin point (at the city/county line along 96th Street) is at present being converted into another roundabout interchange.

#19: Interstate 275 (Cincinnati (OH) beltway) : The least significant Interstate in Indiana, as it barely dips into the state.

#20: State Road 641 (Terre Haute bypass) : Because it's interchange with I-70 is not a freeway-to-freeway junction, this long-desired connection to U.S. 41 is not that significant statewide.

#21: State Road 912 (Cline Avenue) : Ranked low due to the fact that it's been discontinuous since the bridge over the ship channel was closed. Once reconnected, I would consider ranking it higher, assuming full-freeway status is maintained.

#22: Shadeland Avenue (former State Road 100 from I-465 to Washington Street) : This remnant of Indy's original bypass remains a sub-standard stub freeway, but functions more as the urban arterial it becomes north of the deficient Washington Street (old U.S. 40) cloverleaf.

BTW, I did NOT include Interstate 80 independently in this list, as it is NOT concurrent with other Interstates only for the very short stretch between the IN Toll Road (I-90) & the Tri-State Hwy (I-94). Also, the Sam Jones Expressway in Indianapolis was not included since it's junction with I-465 has been downgraded from a system to a service interchange and the remaining freeway portion is both sub-standard and too short to meet my 4-mile minimum length criteria.